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asked Hapu.
    Jenu shook her head. “Only those who the gods favour.” She reached out and found Ramose’s hand. “She will lift the mists on your future.”
    The old woman wouldn’t say anything else and disappeared into her tent, telling them she was tired.

    The following morning the friends awoke to find Jenu making breakfast. After they had eaten fresh bread, goats’ cheese and dried figs, they explored the oasis. It was quite small, perhaps a thousand cubits from one end to the other. Ramose remembered courtyards in the palace that were bigger.
    As well as the tethered goats, Jenu had a small garden where she grew a patch of wheat, some herbs and onions. Other food, gifts from nomads, was stored in jars and baskets. Nomads had been there only two weeks earlier, so her stores were full.
    Jenu had a list of things that she wanted her visitors to do for her. Her simple weaving loom had broken and she wanted them to mend it for her. She wanted someone to climb the trees and knock down fresh dates. The sharp-edged stone that she used for cutting had shattered and she needed a new one.
    The oasis was a pleasant place. Karoya and Hapu spent the whole day helping the old woman. Mery skipped around, attacking tufts of grass and chasing birds, delighted that she was no longer squashed in her basket. Jenu was enjoying the company of her young guests. She no longer looked like a frightening old witch. Overnight she had transformed into a smiling grandmother.
    Ramose busied himself around the oasis, but he wasn’t laughing and chattering like the others. He was thinking about what the old woman had said the night before. Could she really see into his future? If she could, did he want to know what she saw?
    In the evening, after a filling meal of tasty goat stew, Karoya and Hapu sat around Jenu’s cooking fire as if they hadn’t a problem in the world. Jenu sat spinning goat hair into thread, twirling it with her fingers. Hapu told funny stories that made the old woman laugh. Karoya mended Jenu’s tattered tent cloth. Mery lay with her stomach towards the fire. Ramose sat to one side, poking at the fire. He knew that his problems weren’t over yet.
    “Jenu, do you know how far it is to the river?” he asked.
    The others fell silent.
    “A long way,” said the old woman.
    “How many days on foot?” Ramose asked.
    “Many days,” replied the old woman.
    Ramose could tell she was being unhelpful on purpose. He knew he had to ask her the question he had been avoiding. He poked at the embers of the fire, sending out sparks that singed Mery’s fur and made her leap up. The cat settled down again, this time in Jenu’s lap. Mery had grown fond of the old woman who gave her milk and meat.
    “Jenu,” said Ramose at last. “Can you see my future?”
    She beckoned Ramose. He got up and sat next to the old woman. She took his hand in hers. He could feel the calluses on her palms. Her long, claw-like fingernails scraped his skin. Her face changed. The smiling grandmother face disappeared and was replaced by a stern-faced mask. Jenu’s white unseeing eyes changed too. They lost their sightless look and Ramose felt as if she could see right into his soul. A single gust of wind arose out of the perfectly still night. A distant hyena chose that moment to howl.
    “Some things I see. Others are unclear.”
    “Tell me what you see.”
    “You must give me something first. Something dear to you.”
    Ramose reached for his bag. He only had one thing to give. He pulled out his heart scarab, stroked its cool surface and put the blue jewel in Jenu’s hand.
    The old woman felt the stone with her crooked fingers and shook her head.
    “Not this,” she said. “I have no need of this.”
    “It’s the only valuable thing I have.”
    “You have to give something that I need,” replied the old woman.
    “You seem to have all you need. I have nothing else to give you.”
    The old woman’s white eyes narrowed. “You have